San Antonio Spurs’ Davis Bertans has been a busy man these days. 
After being selected with the 42nd pick in the draft, he saw his draft rights shipped to the Spurs in one of the biggest draft day deals which saw George Hill sent to the Pacers.
Currently, he’s preparing for the Under 19 World Championships and excited his home country of Latvia will be hosting the event. After Bertans and his Latvian team took home bronze at the Under 18 Euro championships last year, his team is one to watch heading into the Under 19 World Championships this year.
In an interview with FIBA.com, Bertans spoke on his home country hosting the U-19 tournament, and speaks about ending up with the San Antonio Spurs:
What does his home country hosting the U-19 tournament mean to Bertans?
”This is going to be really special, because all of the relatives, friends can come and watch, so we’ll have to show them that we’re fighting all the time, that we just won’t give up.”
He spoke on his selfless desire to win the championship. You can see why the Spurs coveted this guy, which obviously goes beyond his on court skills.
”Individually, I don’t have any expectations, I just want to play and win. If I score five points and the team wins, I’m happy about it . . .”
When asked about ending up with the Spurs, Bertans was right to the point and is happy to one day wear the silver and black because of the Spurs’ stellar reputation with international players.
I’m really happy that it was the San Antonio Spurs, because it’s a great team for international players and they always try to get the players, who they draft, into the team.”
Bertans seems to have a great attitude, and that is a key ingredient when developing talent. He may be young, but he’s going to work hard in trying to mold himself into a NBA-caliber player.
Also, it’s nice to see the Spurs’ positive reputation among foreign players reaches outside of America. That will be very beneficial to San Antonio as the basketball talent pool continues to expand globally.
(photo: fiba.com)
